Texan who allegedly had restraints probed
Veteran charged in violence at Capitol
WASHINGTON — U.S. counterterrorism prosecutors are investigating two men who allegedly carried plastic restraints or zip ties into the Capitol during the breach and riot there last week, the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington announced. The men were arrested Sunday.
Larry Rendell Brock Jr., of Grapevine, was arrested with one count of knowingly entering a restricted building and one count of violent entry and disorderly conduct, prosecutors said.
Brock, 53, was photographed at the clerk’s desk at the well of the Senate chamber wearing a green helmet, tactical vest, and black-and-camouflage jacket, and holding a white flex cuff, used by police by restrain people, prosecutors said.
The New Yorker reported that Brock is a retired lieutenant colonel, Air Force Academy graduate and combat veteran.
Brock Jr., 53, told the NewYorker that the presidential election in November, in which the Air Force veteran’s preferred candidate, President Donald Trump, lost, was fraudulent, a position that is not supported by evidence.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Brock was an employee of a private charter airline that operates from Fort Worth’s Alliance Airport and has acknowledged that he was involved last week in the insurrection on the U.S. Senate chamber floor. A spokesperson for the airline, Hillwood Airways, said on Saturday that Brock is no longer affiliated or associated with the company.
According to the New Yorker, Brock was identified to the FBI by Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School, which said patches on his helmet and armor beared the insignia of the 706th Fighter Squadron. The report also said he had a vinyl tag of the Texas flag overlaid on the skull logo of the Punisher, a Marvel comic-book character who has been adopted by police and military groups and, more recently, by white supremacists and followers of the QA non far-right conspiracy theory.
Eric Gavelek Munchel of Tennessee was charged with the same counts as Brock, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said photos depicted a person who appears to be Munchel in the Senate gallery, carrying plastic restraints, a holstered object on his right hip, and a cellphone mounted on his chest to record events.
The cases are being prosecuted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington and the counterterrorism section of the Justice Department’s national security division, with assistance from federal authorities in northern Texas and central Tennessee.
FBI agents have been trying to determinewhether some of those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday intended to do more than disrupt the counting of electoral votes certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s November victory, including whether anyone sought to kill or capture lawmakers or their staffers, according to people familiar with the investigation.
On Thursday, the Justice Department charged Cleveland Meredith with texting threats about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., while driving to Washington with an Israeli army standardissue Tavor X95 rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Investigators also are working to determine the motivations and larger goals, if any, of those who had weapons or other gear suggestive of a plot to do physical harm.
Some rioters, for instance, were photographed carrying zip ties, a plastic version of handcuffs, and one man was arrested on suspicion of carrying a pistol on the Capitol grounds.